NASA Puts Science Panels on Pause After Wave of Trump Orders – Gizmodo
In a worrying move, NASA has paused the work of several astrophysics and planetary science committees as it works to figure out where those groups stand following numerous executive orders issued by President Donald Trump.In a memo sent out on Friday, January 31, NASA Headquarters informed the leaders of several assessment and analysis groups that it’s reviewing their activities, ordering them to pause their meetings and activities until the space agency ensures that they comply with Trump’s recent orders, SpaceNews reported.In its memo, NASA referred to the Trump administration’s decision to terminate federal employees in diversity, equity, and inclusion roles, as well as an executive order aimed at ending so-called “gender ideology extremism,” and another one aimed at “unleashing American energy,” by rolling-back the previous administration’s decisions related to climate change.Shortly after Trump announced his executive order related to shutting down diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) offices in the federal government, NASA quickly put an end to its diversity program and canceled any related contracts. “We are aware of efforts by some in government to disguise these programs by using coded or imprecise language,” NASA’s acting administrator Janet Petro wrote in a memo at the time. “If you are aware of a change in any contract description or personnel position description since November 5, 2024 to obscure the connection between the contract and DEIA or similar ideologies, please report all facts and circumstances.”It seems the space agency is now looking to cover all its bases, making sure none of its divisions are in violation of Trump’s recent orders. NASA’s analysis groups are community-organized groups that don’t fall under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, and provide feedback to the agency’s Astrophysics and Planetary Science Division, but don’t make any formal recommendations. That means they review and analyze issues related to exploration of the Moon and Mars, the study of exoplanets, and missions to Venus, Mercury, and other solar system destinations.One of those groups, the Mercury Exploration Assessment Group, was scheduled to hold a meeting on Tuesday but was forced to cancel it on short notice in light of the recently distributed memo. “The MExAG steering committee is heartbroken that our first in-person meeting was cancelled due to this,” Mallory Kinczyk, a member of the MExAG steering committee, wrote on social media platform Bluesky.NASA isn’t the only federal science agency struggling to navigate the flurry of recent orders by the Trump administration. Several science meetings and gatherings were abruptly called off in late January after the president suspended research grant reviews, travel, and training at agencies like the National Institute of Health.Trump’s promise to land astronauts and plant the American flag on Mars, which he declared during his inaugural address, may not align with NASA’s objectives of exploring the solar system and probing the cosmos for answers to important science questions. The agency is also focused on landing astronauts on the Moon by 2027, and establishing a sustainable human presence on the lunar surface as a gateway to reach Mars sometime in the 2030s. It’s not clear whether that plan is still on track under the Trump administration, especially that the dream to land on Mars is shared by the president’s rocket billionaire buddy Elon Musk.
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Source: https://gizmodo.com/nasa-puts-science-on-pause-after-wave-of-trump-orders-2000558539
